British Swimming took their European Aquatics Champioonships medal tally to six on day two of the event in London and secured double gold in the process.
Adam Peaty and Ross Murdoch made it a British one-two in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke before Peaty returned to the pool in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay to defend Great Britain’s title and win gold.
Peaty, the reigning World and European Champion, defended his continental title in an electrifying race at the London Aquatics Centre and set a new Championship record of 58.36 to win the 100m Breaststroke.
“There was amazing support in the venue tonight and it’s definitely one of the best races I’ve had,” said Peaty. “And to have Ross alongside me is just great.
“We followed our well-drilled process and came out with a 58.36 and that puts me in a great place going into Rio. I haven’t rested for this but my stroke just feels like it’s in a really great place. It feels strong and I’m feeling even better within myself. I didn’t’ think I’d go under a minute so to do it twice in one week just shows where I am.”
Murdoch took silver and said afterwards: "I fought all the way to the end and pushed for every single metre. When you have a crowd like this backing you, you just fight all the way to the wall.
"With that home crowd, thanks to the support of UK Sport in bringing events like this to Britain, we can achieve so much and that helped me get my silver tonight."
Peaty and Murdoch were joined on the podium by Giedrius Titenis of Lithuania who took bronze.
Chris Walker-Hebborn, Adam Peaty, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Peaty teamed up to win Great Britain’s final medal of the night in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay
The quartet established an early lead over the rest of the European field and maintained it to the wall. They finished with a time of 3.44.56 which placed them on top of the podium ahead of Italy and Hungary who took silver and bronze respectively.
Sprinter Ben Proud touched home third in the Men’s 50m Butterfly final to claim bronze for Britain in a time of 23.34.
“I’ve really been working on getting the whole of my race right and achieved that to 45m so that’s positive. I do that event to have fun so it’s a great way to open my week.
“Later this week I’m swimming the 50m and 100m Freestyle which is obviously my main focus.
“I’m happy with that race, coming out in front of the home crowd gave me a real buzz and such a great feeling. Thanks to everyone for supporting me and the team.”
The European title and gold medal was taken by Ukraine’s Andriy Govorov and silver went to Laszlo Cseh of Hungary.
Fran Halsall added to the British medal tally on day two when she also took bronze in the Women’s 50m Butterfly.
Halsall said: “I was really happy with that swim, it really shows I’m in good shape which is perfect at this point in the season. With Butterfly it’s all about that last stroke and I got it right on the night to secure the medal.
“If someone had told me at the beginning of the week that I’d go under 25.48 twice in one week, I’ll take that. Fast swimming is so much easier when you in good shape and confident.
Silver in the Women’s 50m Fly went to Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark and gold went to Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestrom.
Chloe Tutton led the British effort in the semi-finals of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke as she and Molly Renshaw both qualified for the final. Renshaw finished her swim in a personal best time of 1:07.82.
The British Swimming team closed day two of the LEN European Aquatics Championships with two golds, a silver and two bronze.
For full results from day two heats and the championships so far click here: http://london2016.microplustiming.com/Elite/indexLondonElite2016_web.php?sport=Swimming
Tickets for the LEN European Aquatics Championships are still available both on the door and via http://www.theticketfactory.com/euroaquatics/online - come and support the British team in London.